


Read Between the Lines

by Onyx_Of_Octavia



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Aerith being Aerith, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cloud owns a garage, Coffee, Don't Ask, F/M, Idiots in Love, Jessie is gay fight me, M/M, Reno cursing, Reno owns a cafe, Vincent owns a used bookstore, Vodka, apparently a lot of these people are successful business owners, i think, just gonna up the rating because I know whats coming, no beta we die like all my house plants, not on purpose but it could happen, possible ooc, rating subject to change as more goes up, soulmates via magic book, there's an armadillo subplot, things are little more explained
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:54:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onyx_Of_Octavia/pseuds/Onyx_Of_Octavia
Summary: So what if there was a book that could match you to your soulmate? Well in this story there is! And even with literally everything pushing them together Cloud and Reno still manage to take forever and some literal shoving from their friends to finally get together. Because nothing can ever be easy for them can it? Oh, and there's an armadillo subplot, if ya squint.
Relationships: Reno/Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart/Rude, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, yeah, I know I should be working on my other works, but I just had to get this out of my system. It should update every Friday unless I'm too lazy to get my ass to my computer to type. Anywhooo. Enjoy!

Muscles rippled under pale skin as the blond pulled the overhead door down and locked it in place with a sturdy padlock. It had been a slow day at the garage. Only two walk-ins and both had been decently easy; an oil change for one and the person just needed to get a new battery put in. He had one other car that was up on the hydraulics, but it was waiting on parts to arrive before he could make any headway on it. The car was truly a beautiful piece of machinery, a cobalt blue 1952 camaro that he was working to restore for a high-end client. The guy was an asshole, but he was paying top dollar, so…

But with no sign of any further business coming in for the day, Cloud was closing up early. A few hours ago he had received a text from Yuffie telling him that Vincent had gotten a new shipment of books and there was one book in particular that he wanted to have the mechanic look at. The blond didn’t know what kind of book the other man thought he would find interesting, but Yuffie had been persistent in her pestering to get him to agree to come look at it. That in mind, Cloud finished locking up and made for his bike.

Traffic wasn’t bad, not surprising for three o’clock on a Tuesday, so it didn’t take long to get from his garage tot he used book store Vincent owned. Parking in the back, Cloud left his helmet on the seat knowing that very few people actually went back there and it would be safe for the short time he’d be gone. After that he made his way to the front of the building, giving a passing glance to the cafe just next door, the glance just long enough to catch the owner’s eye. The owner, an enigmatic red head that, unbeknownst to him, was the star of some of Cloud’s more private dreams, and a few daydreams when things were slow. The blond quickly turned away before the other could notice the light dusting of blush forming on his cheeks.

He wasn’t sure when he first started having feelings, beyond that of the friendship they had cultivated over the past few years, for the older man, or why. Up until recently, probably around the time he realized he was falling for the redhead, Cloud hadn’t even thought of himself as anything but straight. And, really, their friendship alone was a bit of an oddity. They were such opposites, the redhead was energetic, outgoing, with a vibrant personality that matched his hair and drew people in; whereas Cloud was much more reserved, keeping to himself unless forced into a social situation (and even then he did his best to stay away from the main crowd, usually preferring to be off to the side by himself), and as Tifa liked to say, had the personality of a snobby cat – without being a total asshole. Cloud never found the comparison as funny as most of his friends did, but then again he had never been great with people. Especially conversing with them. Yet when he spoke with the redhead it felt natural, easy, it was weird and Cloud didn’t like to think about it too much.

Shaking thoughts of the cafe owner from his head, the blond entered the bookstore. A quiet tinkle of the bell over the door signaled his arrival. The tranquil scent of old, musty books wafted to his nose and the calm atmosphere set his nerves, from thinking this was some weird set up to embarrass him, at ease. He found Yuffie sitting on the counter with one leg crossed over the other, leaning back on one hand while the other scrolled through her phone. Glancing up at the sound of the bell, a relieved look crossed her face. She hopped off the counter, landing with nary a sound on the hardwood floor, it was actually fairly impressive, not that Cloud would ever tell her that, her ego was big enough as it was. The small girl skipped over to where Cloud stood by the door still.

“Thank Leviathan! It’s been sooo boring all day!” Yuffie bemoaned as she grabbed Cloud’s wrist and started dragging him back towards Vincent’s office, “Like nothing interesting has happened today, well besides the new shipment we got, but Vince wouldn’t even let me look at it and has been locked in his office ever since. He won’t tell me anything about it, but he let Aerith come and look at one of the books, which is totally not cool. Why should she get to look at it? She doesn’t even work here. And we’ve only had like one customer all day! Ugh! Sometimes I wonder why I still work here,”

She continued her rambling, having gotten her little rant out of the way she moved on switching from topic to topic every other sentence it seemed. Cloud tuned her out somewhere between Cid getting a pet armadillo and Elena finally convincing Tseng to go out for drinks. It honestly still perplexed the blond how someone like Yuffie could work for someone like Vincent Valentine. Yuffie reminded him of the redhead next door, while Vincent was even more anti-social than Cloud, and that was saying something. But somehow it worked. At some point Red XIII, an oddly coloured cat with equally odd markings, joined their short procession, occasionally rubbing against the blond’s legs.

Yuffie knocked on the office door with a bit more force than was strictly necessary, startling Cloud out of his thoughts. She continued her knocking (pounding) at the door until it flew open to reveal a glaring set of red eyes. The harsh glare softened just marginally as it reached the mechanic’s face and he stepped back and motioned for them to enter the cluttered space that was his office.

“You’re earlier than I’d anticipated,” the shop owner said in a way that implied he knew more than he was letting on.

Cloud shrugged his shoulders, he knew Vincent wasn’t expecting an answer and he didn’t feel the need to explain himself.

“It matters not anyways. You must be wondering as to why I asked you here though,”

It wasn’t a question.

Again a shrug. That wasn’t to say Cloud wasn’t curious, but he wouldn’t lose any sleep over not finding out. Vincent gave a small nod of understanding and gestured to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. After a short pause to consider his options, Cloud took the seat.

“You may go back to the front now, your presence is no longer required here,” the red eyed man told Yuffie, to which the girl huffed at but turned to leave, grumbling to herself as she left. Red jumped up into Cloud’s lap as the door was shut, settling down for the time being. Vincent took his own seat across from the younger man and stared at him for a moment before pulling out an ancient looking tome and placing it on the oak wood. The binding was severely frayed and time worn, and the title, once written in ornate lettering, now almost unreadable, and not just because it was in some foreign language. He motioned for Cloud to take it, so the blond did, not knowing just what he was getting himself into by picking up a simple book.

“What do you know of soulmates?” Vincent questioned.

Cloud looked up from the book, an expression somewhere between disbelief, skepticism, and annoyance etched on his face.

“It was rumoured that our ancestors, many centuries ago, all had a perfect match,” he continued, ignoring the other’s reaction, “This stems back to the ancient Cetra. It was said that through the use of specific texts they were able to match themselves to their soulmate. I still haven’t determined **how** the books were able to know who was a person’s soulmate, but I have discovered how it ‘told’ them.

“When a person was destined to be with someone, chosen for them by Gaia herself, came into contact with one of the few books gifted with the power to know the matches, they would then be marked somewhere clearly visible and not easily hidden. And should their soulmate also come in contact with the text, they would receive a matching mark. Though it was rare for a person to come to the book without the person they believed their match to be. The marks would appear bright red on the skin until both parties acknowledged the other as their intended life partner. Or at least that’s what Aerith was able to interpret from what she translated for me earlier,”

Cloud didn’t look convinced, if anything he was starting to question his friend’s mental state. How was a book supposed to know who someone’s soulmate was? And was he really supposed to believe that soulmates were real? Yeah, right, and Barret was actually the Easter bunny. Maybe they were real in one of Marlene’s faerie tale books, but not in the real world. And further more, why would Vincent think **he** would be interested in some book on something he didn’t even believe in? If he wanted to get a positive response he should have called Elena or Jessie, hell even Wedge would have been a better option.

“I can see you’re still skeptical,”

Cloud merely arched an eyebrow, did he really need to answer?

He wasn’t skeptical, because soulmates weren’t real. What he was wondering though, was why the dark haired man kept shifting his gaze to Cloud’s hands every so often, for just briefest of seconds. Maybe he was just watching to make sure no harm came to the book, but there was hint of excitement, anticipation, like he was expecting something to happen. Not that anything had as far as the blond was aware anyways.

“Are you not curious about the chance at finding your soulmate?”

“No, because even if such a notion were reality I doubt there’s anyone out there who’s my ‘perfect match’ as you put it,” Cloud said, a bitter edge to his words.

“Are you so sure about that? That you would be part of the small percentage that don’t have a soulmate?” Vincent pointed to Cloud’s hand as he said this.

Cloud pulled his right hand out from where it was supporting the tome. An intricate pattern had wrapped itself around his palm and up, twisting around his fingers and continuing over the back of his hand, stopping just above his wrist. The bright red of the mark was glaringly obvious against the pale pigment of the blond’s skin.

“It would seem that Gaia disagrees with your assessment of you lacking a soulmate,”

“The hell!? Did you know this would happen?” Cloud snarled, Ifrit’s hellfire burning in his bright blue eyes.

“How could I know such a thing was going to happen? I may have suspected it was likely for you to be marked, but I could not know for sure,” Vincent admitted.

“So what am I supposed to about this?” Cloud growled, waving his marked hand in the shop keep’s direction.

“Gloves?” was the witty reply.

Cloud did not that as amusing as the dark haired man did. His displeasure was written on his face and wound tense through his muscles. Red, noticing the growing tension and aggravation, removed himself from Cloud’s lap, just in time too as seconds later Cloud shoved himself out of his seat and stalked tot he office door. He shot one last scathing glare back over his shoulder, the message clear as the mark now imprinted on his hand; fix this, fast.

Vincent sighed, leaning back in his chairand gave Red, who had moved to sit on the desk in front of his human, a gentle chin scratch, “Let’s just hope we’re right about this, I don’t know what to do if they aren’t soulmates, and I fear that it’s extremely likely that both of them will ever trust any of us if this goes wrong,”

The words met no listening ears, only the walls, floor and ceiling of the small space he occupied.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So an early update because I almost had a full break down at work and needed to not be there today, anywho... Enjoy the newest chapter!

Reno was having a pretty damn good day so far. His little cat cafe was a popular study zone for the local university students, and Jessie’s pastries were always a hit. But today, today was just going splendidly; not too busy, yet not too slow that he was getting bored. He’d let Wedge go early, Cissnei would be in before the usual after work rush, along with Leslie, his normal closers. But none of that was what put a little extra pep in his already bouncy step.

Both and Jessie and Wedge had asked him what had his spirits so high, Reno replied with a teasing grin and a wink. In all actuality he wasn’t entirely sure himself. There was nothing particularly special about the day, just an average Tuesday. Reno simply had a gut feeling that something good was going to happen that day.

If he only knew.

It was around three o’clock, as he was delivering an americano to one of the perpetually tired students currently trying to cram some last minute studying in, that he saw one of the few people that never failed to bring a teasingly flirtatious smile to his tattooed face. Just as he was turning away from his customer his eyes caught a flash of sun-kissed blond. For the briefest of moments their eyes met, before the younger man turned away and entered the neighboring bookstore, but not before Reno saw the pink tinge start to form on the blond’s cheeks. Seeing the effect he had on the other man never failed to boost Reno’s ego, not that he needed the ego boost, man had enough ego for the whole city and then some.

After watching Cloud disappear into the second hand bookshop Reno had to force himself not to stare out the window and wait for him to leave just so the redhead could catch another glimpse of the object of his affections. During this time a small group of regulars came through, settled in their usual corner, and Reno began preparing their drinks, not even realizing that they hadn’t ordered yet.

One low-fat chai latte, a caramel macchiato with extra caramel and no whip, one mocha – blended with two extra pumps of espresso and three pumps of dark chocolate syrup and light whip, a decaf with one sugar and no cream, and finally an earl grey tea. They thanked him and one of the guys paid for the lot, sliding Reno his card without ever looking up from his laptop.

As the redhead was ringing them up Leslie strolled in, looking as apathetic as ever. They exchanged casual nods of greeting as the silver haired man clocked in. No one else came in for some time after that. The low hum of the machines and the hushed chatter of the few patrons were almost loud enough to drown out the quiet vocals from the coffee house playlist that drifted through the speakers throughout the establishment. The clocked ticked on, minutes slipping into the past without a care to those wishing they would stop. Near forty minutes passed before Cloud burst out of the bookstore, the anger rolling off him in almost visible waves. This piqued Reno’s interest; what could have happened in that shop to have angered the mechanic so?

He watched as the blond stormed back to where he parked his bike. A roaring engine broke through the calm, quiet that embraced the neighborhood, a deep rumbling that Reno felt in his bones. While Cloud was generally a constantly grumpy human, Reno couldn’t recall the last time he had seen the blond _this_ angry before, he didn’t think he had ever seen the blond truly angry, ever, actually.

When the clock rolled over to the four o’clock hour and Cissnei clocked in, Reno bid his employees farewell, knowing they would take care of his business. He didn’t know how forth coming Vincent would be when questioned about why Cloud had left in such a state, but Yuffie was always good for gossip, so maybe she’d know. Stepping out into the brisk autumn air, Reno briefly wondered if he should go back and grab his jacket, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it since he was only going next door.

The bell over the door jingled pleasantly as he pushed the blue painted wood inwards. Yuffie was perched on the counter, (Reno didn’t think she ever actually stood behind it) and greeted him without looking up from her phone. She did look up at the sound of the low chuckle that emanated from the redhead’s throat. Her eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store with free reign of her parent’s credit card when she saw just who it was that had entered her place of work. Reno probably should have been worried about the almost feral grin that blossomed across the petite girl’s face, but he wasn’t given the time.

He was sudden;y being dragged through the maze of shelves and stacks of books towards the back of the building. It was a disturbingly silent trek, Yuffie wasn’t known for keeping her mouth shut, quite the opposite in fact. It immediately put Reno on high alert. Before he could question it though, she was shoving him into the back office and shutting the door behind him, leaving him face-to-face with a stoic faced Vincent Valentine and a content looking Red XIII.

“You are also earlier than I had predicted you being. I must need to recalculate my knowledge of my companions,” the red eyed man said softly, more to himself than the other human occupant of the room.

“You were expecting me? How the fuck could you be expecting me? It’s not like I normally stop by,” Reno barked, already uncomfortable with the situation of having been shoved into a room without any reason, and after hearing that, well, Reno seriously starting to regret his decision to some over.

Vincent didn’t reply, merely nodded to the chair Cloud had occupied not even thirty minutes ago. The redhead, not seeing another choice, he had tried the door and found it either locked or barricaded, hesitantly moved forward, eyes never leaving the other man’s as he lowered himself down into the worn leather upholstery of the seat.

“I assume you came to inquire as to why Cloud left here in the state he did?”

If there was one thing that set Reno on edge when it came to Vincent, it was his innate ability to just _know_ things. While he didn’t outright, fully believe in the supernatural, Reno didn’t the deny the possibility of it, especially in situations such as this. Reno gave a tight nod, unsure where this conversation was going to go.

“What do you know of soulmates?”

Well **that** wasn’t where he had expected it to go. Soulmates? Was he kidding? The look on the shop keep’s face gave zero indication either way, simply remained neutral while Reno had internal crisis over the question. It came out of left court, field? Whatever the expression was, that’s where the question came from. He vaguely remembered the storied his mother would tell him before bed, about an ancient people who had soulmates. He had believed in them for a time, but as he grew up, and reality shoved it’s way into his life, he came to accept that the stories were just that – stories. How could some old book determine who he was meant to be with for the rest of his life? It just wasn’t realistic, or logical.

“Ya mean the faerie tales parents tell their kids? And what movie companies profit off of because people ore suckers for some idealistic romance?”

“Some faerie tales got their roots from true events,”

“You can’t honestly expect to believe that bullshit is real, ain’t no way some old ass book could know shit like that, yo,”

“See for yourself,” Vincent replied, placing the same book he had shown Cloud in front of Reno.

Reno’s eyes shifted between the book and the man. His gut was telling him to get out of there before he did something he’d regret. But his heart was in control. And despite what people thought, Reno was a bit of a romantic at heart. And before he could process what he was doing, the book was in his hands and he was staring down at some old language he couldn’t read. Somewhere his brain was screaming that this whole situation was fishy, but it was drowned out by the rush of blood roaring in his ears. He might not be able to read the words printed on the yellowed pages, but he could still interpret what the images, though faded over the years, still clearly portrayed.

In one panel, two people, a book, and in the next, a close up of their hands, each with a swirling, flowing design that mirrored the other.

“What’s this? There’s no way you could’ve gotten your hands on…” Reno’s voice came out hoarse, throat sounded dry, felt it as he trailed off. Knowing that if anyone could have gotten their hands on one of the ancient texts it was Vincent.

“One of the books the ancient Cetra used to match soulmates? Yes. If you don’t believe me, take a look at your hand,”

The book flew out of the redhead’s grasp, as if it had electrocuted him, sending it flying across the desk and causing Red to jump out of the way as it fell into Vincent’s lap. Reno stared down at his palms, not knowing what to make of what he saw there. There, just as it had on Cloud, only on his left hand, was a bright red design. Vincent silently noted that the pattern was the same as what had appeared on Cloud’s hand, though he was currently the only one with this knowledge.

“The fuck?! You’re telling me that book actually matches you with your soulmate? And now I’m stuck with this,” Reno waved his hand aggressively in Vincent’s direction, “Until some random ass person touches that fucking book and the universe decides that they’re my soulmate? Who the shit knows when that’ll be?! Fuck! If this is why Cloud stormed out, I can’t fucking blame him!”

At the end of his shouting Reno threw the door open, not once questioning how it now opened so easily, and stomped out of the office, glaring daggers at Yuffie as he passed her on the way out. He was still fuming when he got back to his office, grabbing his keys and jacket and then slipping out the back door as to not draw attention to his sour mood, or more so than he did when he raged through the front of house just moments ago.

Unlocking his car, a sleep black sports car, Reno slid into the driver’s seat and took a minute to gather himself before the vehicle and pulling out onto the main road and heading off to his apartment a few blocks away. He doubted Rude would be home, he was most likely already at Tifa’s bar, helping her get ready to open for the night. His assumption was correct, Rude’s car was absent from his parking spot when Reno pulled into the vacant space next to it.

He glared down at his hand as he made his way to the elevator. It just had to be his dominant hand didn’t it? A low growl rumbled up from his his chest and he thrust the offending appendage into the front pocket of his dark grey, skinny jeans. Didn’t bother checking the mail, Rude probably got it earlier, and entered the elevator, letting out a long, heavy breath as he leaned against the back wall. The soft ding alerted him to his arrival to his floor, at which point he pushed off the wall and started down the hall to his living quarters.

A comfortable silence greeted him as he set his keys and wallet in the bowl they kept by the door. Finally withdrawing his hand from his pocket, Reno scowled at it, then decided he was too sober to deal with it at the moment. Making a beeline to the kitchen, the redhead stopped by the freezer, taking out a frozen pizza and preheating the oven appropriately. He next slid over to where he and Rude stored the liquor.

“Vodka or whiskey?” he pondered, another look down at his hand, “Definitely a vodka kinda night,”

Bottle of vodka in one hand, he used the other to unbuckle his belt and tossed it over one of the counter stools, then began working on the button and zipper of his jeans, letting them fall down his slim hips before getting caught on his trainers.

“Fuck,” was the grumbled curse of choice as he nearly tripped over the bunched up fabric. Placing his vodka on a nearby table, he bent over and removed the irritating articles of clothing. By this point the man was left in his blue and black t-shirt and black boxers, it wasn’t like he was expecting company so he really didn’t give a damn.

Flopping down on the suede couch, remote clicked on the TV to some stupid comedy he’d seen too many times to count, or care. Bottle was opened and the burn in his throat was a welcome distractionfrom what had occurred just barely an hour prior. He did his best to not think about what the implications of the mark on his skin meant. Nope. Definitely not going to think about it. The beeping of the oven allowed for further distraction. Pizza was unwrapped from it’s saran jacket, haphazardly dropped on a cooking sheet, and shoved in the oven. Timer was set; eighteen minutes ticking down.

He returned to the couch, another swallow of the burning liquid, eyes glazed over as he stared, unseeing at the bright screen opposite him. A quarter of the bottle later and his phone started blaring the song he had set as his roommate’s designated ringtone.

“Yo, whaddya wan’?” the words were already starting to slur together, or so that’s what he wanted Rude to believe.

_”_ _Are you drunk?”_ Rude asked, he had been told by Vincent what had happened earlier that day and was concerned for his long time friend.

“So wha if I ‘m,?”

_”_ _Hades, do you have even an ounce of self respect?”_

“Nah, th’ shit’s fer losers. Oh, hey, pizza’s done,”

Rude heard Reno shuffling about their apartment, phone clacking down on the granite counter top, some beeping he assumed was the oven, and bits and pieces from the movie playing on the TV.

Reno chuckled quietly to himself as he retrieved an oven mitt to remove his dinner from the hot box, Rude probably thought he was on his second or third bottle of the hard stuff with how he had played up the slurring. In truth, Reno could hold his alcohol extremely well despite his slim stature, thank you Irish ancestry. There was no way he would be this smashed after only a quarter bottle of vodka, puh-lease. He knew he had work tomorrow, he was helping Jessie open, so he couldn’t go too hard on the self-pity party, he respected his business too much to do that.

With his pizza on a plate, he made a show of slamming the oven closed and just generally banging around in the kitchen before picking his phone back up and continuing his conversation with his best friend.

“Wha’ d’ya call fer anywho?”

_”Wanted to make sure you weren’t doing anything too stupid, should’ve called earlier,”_ the last few words were muttered at a lower volume, that, had Reno been as gone as he was acting, he wouldn’t have heard.

“’M fine par’ner, just get back ta ya girl, I’ll still be here when ya git home,”

_”Just…_ _take it easy, I’ll be home in a few hours,”_

“If ya say so, later man,”

Red button, icon, clicked, call ended. Another heavy gulp of vodka. Then he dug into his fatty, greasy dinner with a fervor. About halfway through the pizza the invasive thoughts he had been trying so hard to ignore slammed their way to the forefront of his mind with a strong gusto. And the thought at the head of that charge; Cloud had also been marked by that gods damned book and chances were pretty fucking slim that Reno was the blond’s soulmate. His luck had never been that great, usually pretty shit honestly, and knowing that, he guessed he would get matched to come clingy ass bimbo who would never give him a moments rest. Or worse… Barret or Cid.

Reno shuddered at the thought. There was no way he could face Cloud now, knowing the mechanic was waiting for his perfect match to go man handle the book then find him. The redhead secretly hoped that Cloud would never find his soulmate, at least then they could be miserable together. Because Reno sure as hell wasn’t going to go looking for his. More thoughts akin to that floated through his head as the evening shifted into night. Around nine-thirty sleep sunk it’s claws into him and that’s how Rude found a few hours later. Curled up on the couch, the half eaten pizza by his feet, bottle of vodka on the floor but within arm;s reach, and TV still on, now playing some infomercial for a supposedly self cleaning mop that also did windows.

The bald man sighed, not even the least bit surprised by the sight before him. After considering just leaving Reno on the couch, Rude thought better of it, knowing why the cafe owner was in such a state. He was able to wake Reno enough to half drag him to his room where the redhead proceeded to face plant on his bed. Rude could only roll his eyes at his friend’s antics and then left him to his own devices.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not Friday, but I got plans tomorrow and wanted to get this out, also next weeks will also probably post on thursday for similar reasons, any whooo, Enjoy!

Morning forced it’s existence upon Reno by way of the blaring of his alarm. A pained groan, followed by flesh hitting wood in attempt to silence the annoying sound that disturbed his slumber. Bleary eyed he staggered to his en suite, wincing as the bright lights practically melted his retinas when turned on. Movements were robotic, muscle memory aiding his still sleep addled brain to get him into the shower. As the hot water sluiced over his naked form and hands lathered soap across his chest, teasing one of his nipples as he got ready to take care his the morning wood he was sporting, memories of yesterday slowly returned to him. Hands froze. The left was raised to eye level. Soap rinsed away. A strangled cry tore from his lips.

Reno leaned back against the tiled wall of the shower, breathing heavy. It hadn’t been some twisted dream then… The mark on his hand was visible proof of that. Looking it over he realized some of the lines mirrored the tattoos he had just under his eyes, like it was trying to blend into his personal aesthetic, like a sick, cosmic joke.

“Fuck. How am I supposed to explain this to people?”

He did own a pair of fingerless gloves that would cover the majority of the mark. That would have to work for now, at least until he was able to run to the store and get some of that shit people used to hide tattoos. Which is exactly what he planned on doing the first chance he got.

Shower complete, and a lot less satisfying than he would have liked, he got out and wrapped a fluffy purple towel around his waist before tackling the long process that was drying his wild, red mane. The red locks were Reno’s pride and joy, and a large source of his vanity, and rightly so with the amount of care he put into them. Soon enough hair was dried, teeth were brushed, and deodorant was applied. Clothes were thrown on, phone slipped into one of his pants pockets, gloves located, jacket pulled over top, and after grabbing his keys and wallet, Reno was out the door.

There was no traffic, never was at four-fucking-thirty in the morning. It took him less than five minutes to make the drive, and as he had expected, there was Jessie waiting by the back door when he pulled up.

“Heya, boss, don’t you look sharp today?” she said with a wink as he got out of his vehicle.

Reno blinked, he still wasn’t really awake yet, and looked down at when he had put on less than twenty minutes ago. Under his leather jacket was a blood red button down that had the top few buttons undone, tucked into a pair of form fitting black jeans, and finally ending with his black Doc Martins with a red threading. His gloves were also on, but they didn’t do much in the cold ass mid-October mornings. He shrugged and went to unlock the door, just wanting to get inside and focus on work, and _not_ think about his hand, or anything that happened yesterday.

“Any reason for the look today?” Jessie pressed, “Got a hot date later? Or are ya just tryin’ to impress little ol’ me?” she teased.

“Nah, you and I both know I would never wear a date outfit to work, and the only way I’d impress you is if I grew some tits, honestly I hadn’t even realized what I’d put on till ya said anything, been one of those mornings,” Reno answered though a yawn.

“If ya say so. Want me to fix you up a hit when the machines warm-up? Y’know, so you’ll actually be able to function this morning?”

“Please, and make it strong, like wake-the-dead kinda strong,”

She gave a sympathy wince, it was rare for anyone to ever ask for the wake-the-dead special, and if Reno wanted it he must have had a rough night. Skipping away, she set about getting everything turned on and making sure things were stocked before getting some baking in. Reno watched her go, mind still hazy as he went back to his office to go over the daily things, paperwork, schedules, and all that fun business owner shit. The day’s schedule looked good; it was just him and Jessie until six when Selphie would join them. Yuna and Luna took over for Jessie at noon and Selphie at two, respectively, and Leslie, who was only working a half shift, would be in at five till close. He had Wedge and Cissnei on standby if someone had to call out for some reason, but otherwise it looked like a normal day. It was possible Wedge might just show up to check on the cats because he wanted to, dude loved those furballs more than anyone else so Reno never stopped him when he wanted to take some time out of his day to take care of them.

A quick glance at his calendar showed no pressing happenings; tomorrow was a delivery day, and Friday he was meeting with some computer guy about the possibility of getting a mobile ordering system set up. Jessie brought him his coffee, and after that the day passed without incident. Reno was able to deflect any questions about the red markings twisting around his fingers by saying he was trying a new thing that was supposed to help a person decide if they wanted a tattoo or not, believable enough. Sure. He rolled with that, and most people went with it. A few seemed skeptical, but no one tried to dig any further than surface inquiries. He got off when Luna clocked in, Wedge was there as Reno had predicted and he would help if things got too much before Leslie got there, doubtful but it could happen. So far his day had gone well.

The day had passed without incident, well, the work day had passed without incident. Once he got home, that was a different story. He wasn’t all that surprised to find Rude was home, Wednesday’s were the one day Tifa didn’t open the bar, for her own sanity. Though Rude usually went to the gym on these days, it wasn’t something he always did. What did alarm him was when Aerith popped out of the kitchen, a knowing smile on her face as Reno slowed down taking his jacket and shoes off. When she wrapped herself around his arm and lead him over to the couch, he knew something was up.

“What’s going here, yo? Get the feeling this isn’t a normal social call,” Reno asked as he was shoved down into his usual spot, eyeing his roommate and the spunky girl suspiciously.

“And why would you think that? You don’t think I just wanted to stop by and see my favourite redhead?” Aerith asked, feigning innocence with those wide green eyes blinking sweetly.

“No. Because you always text me first to make I’m home,” he retorted, “And what about you? Didn’t feel like hitting the gym? Or are you in on whatever this is?” that was directed at Rude.

“Didn’t feel like going out,” Rude replied with a shrug, reclining in his chair and sipping his beer.

“Uh-huh… Sure ya didn’t,” Reno said, not believing a word the bald man uttered, “Why are you guys really here?”

Aerith sighed and shot a glance at Rude out of the corner of her eye. Rude gave a small nod.

“Alright, fine, you win,” she said with a pout, but knew if this continued to drag on Reno would only get more and more defensive, “A little birdie told me you had an encounter with a certain book,”

_‘Damn Yuffie and her big mouth, she didn’t have a problem keeping it shut when I saw her the other day, why she gotta go tell everyone my shit?’_

“Can I see your mark? I’ll show you mine if it’ll make you more comfortable?” the brunette offered.

Up until that point Reno hadn’t thought about the fact that other people, likely his friends, had also been shown the book and gotten marked themselves. But why wouldn’t they? Especially Aerith, she had Cetra ancestry, and the book _was_ Cetra. Of course he and Cloud couldn’t be the only two people affected by that book. He regarded her for a moment, finally letting his eyes rest on the pair of brown gloves she wore.

“Fine, you can see it, but ya gotta keep your mouth shut about it, don’t go blabbing to your hubby or girlie about it, ya hear?” he stated, looking at both Aerith and Rude as he did so.

They both agreed to his terms, well, at least they said they did, neither had any intention of keeping that promise though, for their own reasons.

“You first, princess,”

The flower shop owner grinned, knowing Reno wouldn’t offer to show off his mark first. She slid her gloves off, tucking them into the belt around her waist, and placed her hands in the redhead’s lap. Reno took her marked hand, the left one he noted, and raised it up to examine it more carefully. As he looked it over he came to two conclusions; one, it was on the same hand as his and that meant that they weren’t meant for each other, and two, instead of being a vibrant red like his own, it was a solid black – meaning she had found her soulmate and they had accepted each other as such. Reno was interested in the differences in the designs themselves. Aerith’s had more of a flowery feel to it, while his own was flowy and sharp, yet not in a harsh way, he didn’t know if that made sense but that was his opinion of it.

“Alright, my turn!” she said taking his hand in hers and pulling the glove off, “Oh. It’s beautiful! It certainly fits you,”

“If you say so. So who was your match? Would be weird if it was anyone else besides that husband of yours,”

“Of course it was Zack! Who else would it be? Cloud? Tseng? Gaia, Cloud is like my brother, and I’m pretty sure Elena would kill me if it if it was Tseng,” Aerith laughed.

Reno couldn’t help the smirk that spread over his face at the thought of Elena’s reaction to discovering that the man she had been infatuated with for so long was meant for someone else. Though he was fairly sure there was something between the Wutaian and Rufus, not that he could prove it. Rude’s chuckle lead him to believe the bouncer was having similar thoughts. Reno then shifted his train of thought to his long time friend.

Did Rude have a soulmate? Probably. If so, who? Tifa? It’d be a very uncomfortable situation if they went to find and weren’t. Even more so since Rude was planning on proposing to the bar owner. But, he guessed, it wasn’t impossible. There was a good chance Tifa was Strife’s soulmate, the two had been close for most of their lives, and the girl had had strong feelings for the blond a few years back. Reno didn’t know who would be more upset if that came to be – him or Rude.

“So, buddy, you and the lady gonna go fondle the magic book, see if ya two are ‘meant to be’?”

Rude shrugged, “If she wants to, I guess, I don’t feel the need to test destiny,”

“Ah, come on! Where’s your sense of adventure? You guys should totally do it! I bet you guys are totally each other’s soulmate!” Aerith exclaimed.

“Yeah, man, what’s the worst that could happen?” Reno jeered, as a quiet giggle burst forth from the brunette girl’s lips that she tried and failed to conceal with a cough.

“Gaia does take your personal feelings for someone onto account when selecting your match. Sure it doesn’t always work out that way, but Gaia won’t go out of her way to match you with someone you don’t like, or know, no matter how compatible you may be. That would just be all kinds of awkward,” she explained, sounding extremely serious about the subject.

“I’m not going to find out my soulmate is some random bimbo off the street, then?” Reno asked.

“Shiva, no! Your soulmate is someone you already know. Gaia can’t create a soul bond if there isn’t already some level of a bond between the two parties,”

_‘_ _Well, that narrows down my options, but still doesn’t mean that Cloud is the one for me,’_ Reno mused.

What the redhead didn’t know, was that, across town a very similar conversation was taking place…


End file.
